Iodine

Peter Baltensperger is the editor and publisher of Moonstone Press and
the author of Arcana.

Rhenisch’s fifth book of poetry consists of a series of parodies on
contemporary idols and fetishes—the “golden calves” of
20th-century North American society that have come to govern our lives.
These satirical “adorations” attempt to deplore, rather than extol,
the contemporary developments of idol worship and shallow existence. The
titles speak for themselves: “Our lord walks down Main Street in
surplus Vietnam-issue boots,” “Hymn for herbicide,” “Hymn for
small-engine repair,” “The prodigal son II: A Steven
Spielberg/Francis Ford Coppola co-production,” “Hymn for Kleenex and
a nylon comb,” “The song of our lord, or there ain’t no cure for
love.”

Subtitled “A Visit to Jake’s Kero Confectionery during the Elks’
Rodeo Parade, 1963” (the title of the penultimate poem in the book),
Iodine cleverly pokes fun at a wide variety of idols and cults, from
Elvis Presley’s “Graceland” and direct-mail advertising to
high-cholesterol junk food, false messiahs, and society’s obsession
with material and monetary values to the exclusion of spirituality and
inner values.